This Week in History: July 28-August 1, 2008

This week we say farewell to the month of July.  How does time go by so fast?  Before you know it we will be rushing around trying to get ready for Christmas again!  Well, the good news is that football season is only a month away and we still have some time to enjoy the extreme heat before the extreme cold sets in. But, before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s look back at what was happening this week in history.

July 28, 1994: Baseball pitcher Kenny Rogers of the Texas Rangers throws a perfect game.
As all baseball fans know, throwing a perfect game is no small feat, especially at the professional level. Maybe a few of you out there were lucky enough to watch as Rogers in his moment of glory. That’s why television is so great; it allows us to witness great moments such as Rogers.   Where would baseball be without television?  If you’ve ever pondered this question yourself, you should check out Center Field Shot by James R. Walker and Robert V. Bellamy Jr. which explores television’s impact on the game.

July 29 1958: U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Space travel is an extraordinary subject and for those of you interested in learning more about outer space and humanity’s struggle to get there, should check out Chris Gainor’s To a Distant Day or David Hitt, Owen Garriott, and Joe Kerwin’s Homesteading Space.  Explore what it really took for us to reach the final frontier.

July 30, 1930: In Montevideo, Uruguay wins the first World Cup.
Although soccer isn’t huge in the United States, the sports impact around the world can’t be denied.  To help you better understand the way soccer has influenced the world, be on the lookout for The Global Game (which will be coming soon).  This fantastic book is a collection of numerous works written by authors from around the world about this popular sport.  The Global Game editors are John Turnbull, Thom Satterlee, and Alon Raab.

July 31, 1498: On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad.
Exploration has long been a fascination of human beings because we are always trying to discover the unknown. Unfortunately, for most of us living today, exploration into the unknown is limited to the deep sea and space.  However, even if you can’t be a deep sea diver or an astronaut, you can still explore, and a place that might be of interest to you is Nebraska’s Cowboy Trail which is an old railroad turned tourist destination.  Luckily, if you ever want to venture on this trail Keith Terry has written a user’s guide appropriately titled Nebraska’s Cowboy Trail. 

August 1, 1936: Olympic Games: Summer Olympic Games – The Games of the XI Olympiad open in Berlin.
With the Olympics just around the corner, this seemed like a good event to include in this week’s history.  I don’t know about any of you, but one of my favorite events in the summer Olympics is field and track even though I myself am not an avid runner.  If any of you want to learn more about runners and their passion, be on the look out for Personal Record by Rachel Toor, where Toor gives us a inside look into the world of running.